


A Good Man

by minkowski



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Backstory, Introspection, i?? don't know not much happens he's sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 12:24:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7103284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkowski/pseuds/minkowski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel Jacobi is a good man. At least he tries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Good Man

Daniel Jacobi is a good man. At least he tries. At least he has tried.

He's a good crew member, anyway. Maxwell tolerates him. Colonel Kepler...well, Kepler likes him, he thinks. He doesn't think much of it, or at least that's what he tells himself. 

 

"Screwdriver?"

"Screwdriver."

There's some peace in this, some peace in watching Kepler lie on his back, tinkering with the computers. It's really a job more suited to Maxwell, but she's got her own problems to worry about.

"Wrench?"

"Wrench."

The clink of metal in metal fills the steady hum of the Urania. Kepler takes a breath, and Jacobi steels himself for what he already knows is coming.

"Have I ever told you about the time with the Russian sheep?"

Jacobi sighs, which Kepler doesn't notice. He never does. "No, Colonel," he says, because his answer doesn't matter. "I don't believe you ever have."

 

It's the stories, the goddamn stories, that make it so hard to keep up the facade. They're endless. They're repeated a thousand times. Sometimes Jacobi sits for hours, legs asleep, waiting and waiting for the end.

Long story short, Colonel Kepler rescues the orphaned kittens. 

Long story short, Colonel Kepler is briefly elected president of Cuba.

Long story short, Colonel Kepler cures the common cold.

Long story short, Colonel Kepler saves the day.

Long story short, Colonel Kepler wins. He always wins.

Jacobi knows that not all of those stories can be true, that most of them have to be complete lies. Yet Kepler tells the stories like Jacobi is his nine-year-old grandson, not the man who made it into space, not the man on one of the most important journeys in history.

And yet Jacobi understands. 

Jacobi has never won anything.

 

"Have I ever told you about the Wombat Incident?"

Maxwel shoots Jacobi a grin from the opposite side of the ship before muttering something about repairs and floating away. Jacobi grits his teeth and shakes his head.

"No, Colonel, I don't believe you have."

 

Training was hard. Daniel Jacobi is nothing if not hardworking, but still, training was hard and he cried some days and he was never the smartest or the strongest and training was hard.

He recognizes a slightly younger version of himself, nodding stiffly to superiors, getting drunk on the weekends, barely passing tests that he had studied weeks for, trying and trying and just barely succeeding. He recognizes his version of himself, yes, and he hates it, but he can still see it daily, even aboard the Urania.

Jacobi, have I ever told you about the time I singlehandedly fought a bear?

Jacobi, we need those numbers filed by 1600 hours.

Jacobi, are you even trying?

Jacobi, are you even listening?

 

"...so, long story short, that's how I took some of the first steps in cross-breeding mammals and amphibians."

"Wow."

 

It was a fluke, really, that he managed to make his way onto the Urania. He was too dumb for NASA—he knew his, has always known that, and so it was all right. But when he was still stuck on Earth, well, Christ, it started eating at him. So he sent some letter to the Urania people, more of a plea than anything else, and he was accepted.

Jacobi has always wondered what it was about that half-assed letter that qualified him to launch into space. He's always been good at persuading people, always been likable enough, at least when he wanted to be. Was that it?

When you're in a ship with certified-genius Maxwell and hero-of-everything Kepler, it starts to eat at you. Not a lot, but enough.

 

"...so, long story short, that's why Neptune is my least favorite planet."

"Wow."

Sometimes, Jacobi thinks that he is the one losing his mind. He must have heard that story...what, two hundred times? Kepler never remembers. Jacobi remembers every telling. Which one of them is crazy?

"Socket wrench?"

"Socket wrench."

 _Quite a team,_ thinks Jacobi.

 

He doesn't resent Colonel Kepler. He never has, not really. He's always been good with authority—always agreeable, submissive, helpful enough without making a big deal about it.

He remembers, briefly, his psych evaluation. Lying his way through tedious questions—that's always been his forte. Other than his fear of ducks—which,  _damn it,_ he shouldn't have mentioned—he had managed to hide any flaws, anything that might make a doctor wonder, anything that might define him as unfit for being trapped in a metal box with two other people.

He'd passed with flying colors, he remembers. The doctor scribbled a note in his file, saying something about his "ability to cooperate with authority" and "good people skills." He held these comments close to his heart, badges of honor. They defined him; they told him who he was and that who he was was good.

He wanted to be a good man. He wants to be a good man.

 

"Have I ever told you about the signal I picked up by Mars?"

 

Yes. Yes, a thousand times.

 

"...so, long story short, that's the last time I gardened."

 

Jacobi wants to be good. He wants it so badly.

 

"Have I ever told you about the fire ants?"

Jacobi takes a breath and tries again. "No, Colonel. I don't believe you have."

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> *dumps all my personal issues onto jacobi* nice
> 
> idk i really like jacobi! we don't have very much information on him right now but i still love him. also, i just really wanted to write some stuff about the urania crew on the urania.


End file.
